


ink therapy

by dreadpiratewatson



Category: Captain America (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Alternate Universe - Tattoo Parlor, Artist Steve Rogers, Boys In Love, Bucky Barnes Feels, Deaf Clint Barton, Deaf Steve Rogers, Developing Relationship, Everything is Beautiful and Nothing Hurts, Fluff, Love at First Sight, M/M, Modern Bucky Barnes, Modern Steve Rogers, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Sign Language, Stucky - Freeform, Tattoo Artist Steve Rogers, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, True Love, War Veteran Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-12
Updated: 2019-07-12
Packaged: 2020-06-27 03:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,483
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19782493
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreadpiratewatson/pseuds/dreadpiratewatson
Summary: The moment James Barnes walks into Steve Roger’s tattoo shop, Steve almost swallows his tongue.They had talked on the phone of course; James had mentioned that Natasha, a regular client of Steve’s had recommended him, and of course he was honored to do a soldier themed tattoo for a marine vet.He was even more honored to place a tattoo on a body like that.





	ink therapy

**Author's Note:**

> Hello lovelies!! 
> 
> This is something I wrote today in maybe a few hours, so it may not be my best work but I toyed with the idea for a while, thinking it was cute. Endgame ruined me, so I thought we deserved something cute. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy!! 
> 
> -Stevie

The moment James Barnes walks into Steve Roger’s tattoo shop, Steve almost swallows his tongue. 

They had talked on the phone of course; James had mentioned that Natasha, a regular client of Steve’s had recommended him, and of course he was honored to do a soldier themed tattoo for a marine vet. 

He was even more honored to place a tattoo on a body like  _ that.  _

Clint had come back to his station where he was finishing up a drawing for a different client and told him James had arrived (not before mouthing ‘he’s hot’ for Steve’s benefit). Steve had come to the front and saw the well built ex-marine clad in a white t-shirt and tight black jeans that showed the well defined muscles of his legs, his hair falling loosely on his shoulders, and  _ that  _ is the moment that Steve swallowed his tongue. 

“Hey.” He says lamely, holding out his hand. “Thanks for coming in, James.” 

James gives him a shy smile and holds out his hand that Steve doesn’t notice is a metal prosthetic until his fingers encase the cool material. “Call me Bucky. Thanks for having me.” 

Steve recovers, and smiles back. “Of course, Bucky.” He holds out the design he was clutching in his other hand for Bucky to see. “You told me on the phone to do whatever you wanted with it, so I did some research and this is what I came up with. You said you wanted it on your arm, right?” 

Bucky nods and looks over the design, a beautiful, beautiful smile pulling at his lips. His steely-blue eyes look a little misted over, but Steve doesn’t bother mentioning it. “It’s perfect, Steve. Thank you.” 

Pride swells in Steve’s chest. Hearing people love his work never ceases to make him happy, even after being a tattoo artist for nearly eight years. “Good. Can I see your arm really quick.” 

The ex-marine holds out his flesh arm and rolls up his sleeve to give Steve more room. Steve holds the stencil over Bucky’s arm to check for sizing and placement, and he grins to himself when he finds it’s perfect.

“Looks like it’ll fit.” He says. “Let me grab Clint to get your paperwork filled out, and I’ll get set up real quick. Deal?” 

“Deal.” 

Steve nods and heads back to the rest of the shop where Clint is sitting, waiting, with a knowing smirk on his face.  _ Told you he was hot.  _ Clint signs at him to avoid Bucky overhearing. 

Steve rolls his eyes, and shoos his friend to the front desk so he can set up alone. His pre-tattoo ritual is simple; turn on some EDM to listen to while he sets up, and sway around in the space while he pours the ink into the little ink caps, and sets up his water. He knows this is probably going to be a long tattoo, possibly all day, and he’s fine with that. The more time he gets to spend with the beautiful man up front the better. 

Finally, once he’s ready, he comes out to greet Bucky again, and flashes a smile. “Ready?” 

“I think so.” Bucky replies, standing up and following Steve back toward his workspace. 

He allows Steve to maneuver him onto the chair and obediently holds out his arm when Steve goes to clean and shave the area where the tattoo will go. Bucky doesn’t speak much throughout the process, and it isn’t until Steve places the stencil down that he realizes that Bucky may actually be nervous, and he should probably say something. Normally clients are talking his ear off, so this is new. 

“This your first?” He asks. 

Bucky nods. “I’ve always wanted one. Natasha has so many, but I couldn’t ever get anything because I was a marine.” 

“They don’t let you have tattoos?”

“Nothing visible that couldn’t be covered up with a sleeve. So I just told myself I’d wait until I got back. I was really bummed when I lost my arm in Afghanistan though, not going to lie.” 

Steve startles at that. “Yeah, I mean, you lost your arm.” 

“Yeah.” Bucky agrees. “Less room for ink.” 

That makes Steve thrown his head back with a laugh. “That is unfortunate.” 

Silence falls over them again, and Steve gets the machine ready. Bucky flinches at the loud buzz when it first turns on, and Steve gives him a concerned look. “Nervous?” He asks. 

Bucky shrugs, but it’s clear he’s anxious. “I don’t know what to expect. I really, really want this, but I’m worried that I won’t be able to handle it.” 

Steve considers that for a moment. He can’t imagine what could have happened to Bucky to make him lose his arm, but he can imagine why the man would be nervous about getting a tattoo. Getting something on your tricep is probably one of the least painful places to get work done, but it’s not like it doesn’t hurt at  _ all.  _

“Well,” He says carefully, calculated. “If at any point you need a minute, you just say the word, and we’ll stop. Okay?” 

Bucky gives him a grateful smile. “I appreciate you.” He replies, genuinely sounding like he means it. 

“Anytime pal.” With that, he turns the machine on again, and gets ready to go. “I’m going to do a few little lines first to start, to give you a feel for it, okay?” 

“Sure.” 

Steve does just that, giving a few light-as-a-feather swipes down the length of Bucky’s beefy arm, then looks up to face the beautiful man. He’s smiling when he makes eye contact with Steve. “Doing okay?” 

Bucky nods. “Can barely feel it.” 

“You okay if I keep going?” 

“Yes, please.” 

So he does. Bucky sits still the entire time he works his arm, and the smile doesn’t disappear from his face.  _ He must have really been anxious.  _ Steve thinks. 

“So what made you decide to finally come in?” Steve asks after a few minutes of silence. 

He can’t see Bucky’s face while he’s working, but the ex-marine shifts in the chair. “I had been talking about it forever. I kept telling Natasha ‘this week I’ll make an appointment’ but I always chickened out.” 

“Why?” 

He feels Bucky’s other shoulder shrug. “Guess I just didn’t know where to go or what to get, and it was hard for me to think of what I wanted because I’m not artistic in the least. Natasha finally just told me to go to you because she trusts you and loves your art style.” 

Steve feels his heart swell. Natasha had been coming to see him every few months for the past two years, and he loved working with her. “She’s pretty great.” 

“She is. Anyway, she finally just told me ‘tell Steve your idea and let him play with it’. She said it would make you happy to have creative control over a design.” 

He smiles. “She’s right. Most people don’t give us that. Most people generally come in with what they want already drawn up or they have an idea from Pinterest or something, which is fine, of course, but it’s always more fun for an artist to have creative control. So thank you for letting me have fun with this.” 

Bucky chuckles. “I’m having as much fun as you are, Steve.” 

Hearing his name rolls off of Bucky’s tongue in his sweet baritone makes Steve shiver. Bucky is too beautiful. 

“Who does your work?” Bucky asks. 

Steve inclines his head toward the front where he knows Clint is drawing. “Clint, mostly, a few from Wanda, our apprentice and one or two from our new guy Thor. When we get bored we tattoo each other. It’s fun.” 

This time Bucky laughs. “Good way to be bored, I guess.”

“It is.” 

That comfortable silence falls over them again, and after about an hour, Clint comes back and offers to buy lunch for Steve, who declines. They continue for another little while longer before Steve decided to take a quick break and let Bucky stretch for a moment. 

“I know those chairs aren’t super comfy.” He explains as he shakes out his hand. 

“I appreciate you.” Bucky answers, and Steve realizes it’s the second time he’s said that. He finds it endearing. 

If he’s honest with himself, he finds  _ Bucky  _ really endearing, with his beautiful smile and his steel blue eyes and his voice like smoke and velvet. He wonders if there’s a girl--or boy--back in Bucky’s home that appreciates him as much as Steve does right now. With his jawline that could cut glass and sweet demeanor, he’s bound to attract attention. 

Bucky seems to notice he’s staring, and he blushes, his cheeks turning a bright pink, and  _ oh  _ boy, Steve’s in big trouble. 

“You can ask about it, you know.” He says, startling Steve out of his thoughts. 

“What?” 

Bucky smiles shyly at him again, and it makes Steve’s heart flutter. “My arm.” He elaborates. “You can ask about it if you want.” 

Steve realizes what his staring must have looked like, and he feels his own face turn hot. “I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.” 

“It’s fine, Steve. If I minded, I wouldn’t have offered.” 

He nods, and holds his hand out. Bucky places his metal appendage in Steve’s hand, and Steve looks it over in awe. It’s stunning work. “Where did you get it? I’ve never seen one like this.” 

“Stark Industries.” Bucky answers. “I was one of Tony’s guinea pigs when I got back from Afghanistan after getting my arm blown off. Since getting out of the weapons industry, Tony’s been working on more useful things to do with his robots.” 

Steve scoffs. “It’s so weird that he’s Tony to you.” 

“When you sit in his lab, he’s Tony.” 

He laughs. “Well, it’s beautiful.” 

Bucky smiles in thanks, and settles back down in the chair to continue their session. “So what made you want to be a tattoo artist?” He asks when Steve starts working on his arm again. 

“I’ve loved art since I was a little kid. Colors always spoke to me for some reason, and even though we didn’t have a lot of money, my mom always made sure I had the best colored pencils and paints to work with. She supported me all through college to get my art degree.” Steve twists his arm so that Steve can see the purple lily on his forearm with  _ Sarah Joy  _ tattooed underneath. “Lilies were her favorite.” 

Bucky looks sad as he reaches out his hand and brushes his fingers across the gorgeous tattoo. Steve’s breath catches in his throat. “Sounds like a beautiful woman.” 

“She was.” Steve takes his own moment to be sad, but then smiles, and continues to work. He realizes he doesn’t want to stop touching Bucky. “She always wanted me to do something good with my degree, and when I told her I wanted to be a tattoo artist, she told me to go for it. She even let me practice on her when I was still an apprentice.” 

“That’s amazing, Steve.” 

“Thanks, Bucky.” 

They continue with small talk for the rest of the session, Bucky sharing stories from the marines that mostly involve his Howling Commando buddies doing stupid things, and Steve sharing stories of his weirdest, worst, and best tattoos. Conversation with Bucky moves so smoothly, and it makes the entire session more enjoyable. 

As the hours go by, Clint comes back and knocks out a few tattoos on clients of his own, Steve and Bucky have become good friends, and Steve can see why Natasha likes him so much. 

Finally, after a seven hour session, Bucky’s tattoo is finally complete, and Steve is more than ready for him to see it. He thinks it may actually be his best work yet. He wipes it down, cleans up any remaining ink, and grins. “You ready to see it?” 

“Absolutely.” Bucky hops up and walks over to the mirror to see his arm. “Holy  _ fuck.”  _ He gasps out, his voice sounding watery. 

The design, army boots, dog tags, goggles, and the helmet to match alin black and grey with a colorful American Flag background covers Bucky’s ridiculously large upper arm, and before Steve can even ask, tears are pouring down Bucky’s cheeks. 

“What do you think?” Steve asks, a little nervous. 

Bucky turns around and throws his arms around Steve’s neck, crying silently into his throat. “It’s perfect, Steve. Thank you. Thank you so much. I love it.” 

Feeling a lump in his throat, Steve hugs back wholeheartedly, trying not to be too intoxicated by Bucky’s beautiful scent. “You’re welcome, Buck. I’m so glad you love it.” This is not the first time he’s been hugged by a client, but this is the first time it’s been so full of emotion like this. It’s a whole new feeling, and Steve loves every minute of it.

They stay like that for a few minutes, and when Clint walks in on them, he smiles at Steve, and lets them have their moment. 

Once Bucky is cleaned up, he hands Steve too much money that he absolutely won’t take back (Steve really did try), and Steve hands him his card with all of his information on it with the promise of a future session.

“Need anything else from me?” Steve asks, pocketing the money and grinning. 

Bucky gives him a smile. “Just… thanks for making today great for me. I didn’t know what I expected when I walked in here, but it wasn’t this. So… thank you.” 

“Anytime, Buck. Honestly. I’m glad I could do this for you. I hope to see you again.” 

“Oh, you definitely well.” It looks like he wants to say more, or maybe Steve’s just hopeful. He smiles once more, and the two say their goodbyes, Steve watching him walk out the front doors of the shop, feeling strangely empty. 

He must stand there for too long, because eventually, Clint comes up behind him and pats his shoulder. “You know, you could have probably just proposed right there.” 

“Shut the fuck up, Clint.” 

**_________________**

A few days later, Steve is reading through emails upon emails of requests, when a single one without a subject line from a  _ jbarnes  _ catches his eye. Hope welling up inside him, he opens, and it’s everything he’s been hoping for.

_ Hey Steve,  _

_ Thanks again for making my day the other day. You’re a doll. I was wondering if you’d want to grab coffee sometime? :)  _

_ -Bucky Barnes  _

And Steve is smiling like an idiot when he types out that he’d love to and gives Bucky Barnes his phone number. 

**_________________**

Three years later and several tattoos later on their wedding day, Natasha reveals it was her plan all along to get them together, and Steve and Bucky couldn’t be more grateful that she did. 


End file.
